It is not often that we look at audio products at Phoronix. Usually we are looking at sound cards with their Linux driver, like the Creative X-Fi Linux fiasco and the ALSA drivers for high-end sound cards. Occasionally we will look at gaming headphones and we have even looked at multi-million dollar home theaters, but in this review, we are checking out a simple 2.1 speaker system. The folks over at Xoxide recently sent out the Altec Lansing VS2421 speaker system, which we are testing out this morning.

Oh nice a 2.1 set. Does that mean you can now test new Nettops/HTPCs with this sound system? :)

Though, a 5.1 surround set would have been better to test with.

07-20-2009, 09:58 AM

Zhick

I don't know why I even bothered to read this review, but while I was at it, this catched my eye:

Quote:

On the control unit for the Altec Lansing VS2421 is a microphone output, headphone output, and an auxiliary input.

I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be a microphone input.

07-20-2009, 10:54 AM

Michael

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zhick

I don't know why I even bothered to read this review, but while I was at it, this catched my eye:

I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be a microphone input.

No, with the integrated microphone on the unit, first the audio needs to be redirected back into the computer so that your VoIP program or whatever application can receive it, before it's sent back out to the speakers.

07-20-2009, 05:34 PM

spiralscratch

I've had this set at work for a while. It's fairly good for the price.

The one thing I hate about it is it picks up GSM buzz worse than just about any set I've ever come across. It's almost as though it's built to do it. The only way I've found to alleviate the buzz somewhat is to enclose the controller in an anti-static bag.

07-21-2009, 03:30 AM

frantaylor

Who even uses 2.1 anymore? For $20, one can get a perfectly good USB 5.1 sound adapter. And since when do you call it a "subwoofer" when it only goes down to 35 Hz?

The bass control is on the subwoofer? How completely inconvenient.
I tweak on my bass control often for videos and music.

Is that the subwoofer cone, directly exposed? How long will that last under your desk before you put your foot through it?

I used to think Altec-Lansing made good stuff. At least I learned something from this review: avoid Altec-Lansing.